Our original plan was to climb up to see Yosemite Falls, but sadly it had dried up over the summer (no mean feat as it is a massive waterfall; but not an uncommon occurrence). We opted for Vernal Falls instead.

For our average-athleticism family, it was quite a brutal walk. This path was pretty steep, yet it turned out to be the easy part.  Steve’s post-op knee meant that he and Brenna and the children spent the day exploring the lowlands.

Thankfully the scenery made up for the pain!

This little guy came right up to Erin’s hand.

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And then there came this… 1 step up, 699 to go…

At least we were getting close; we could see the falls now. The trail we were on was called the Mist Trail, because at other times of the year, the falls roar with such ferocity that the trail is bathed in mist from the water. During our visit, Vernal Falls was a fraction of its usual size; consequently the Mist Trail was mist-less.

We made it.

And met another friendly squirrel, as we sat around and recovered and absorbed our achievement.

Then down again, which is almost as hard as going up.

We reached the top, which is just up in the right hand corner of this pic.  Like I said, this is a tiny flow compared to its usual grandeur. (You should google the regular state of  Vernal Falls). It was still worth the climb, though.

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